This press release from “Level the Playing Field” argues that at least seven of the seventeen Presidential Debates Commissioners have conflicts of interest, and gives details.
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Matt Bai is a politics columnist for Yahoo! News and a former chief political writer for New York Times Magazine. His column about the upcoming presidential primary debates says, “Polls have no business in the debate process.”
All of the recent controversy around the Republican presidential debates will be useful in opening up the general election presidential debates. If a consensus seems to be building that it is wrong to exclude Republicans who are at least at 1% in polls, there is no logic that says 15% in the polls is a proper cutoff for general election debates.
Until yesterday, Fox News, the sponsor of the first Republican presidential debate, had been planning a single Republican presidential debate on August 6, limited to the top ten candidates as determined by polls. But on June 10, Fox News said it will also hold a second debate on the same day for candidates who aren’t in the top ten but who are at 1% or more in the polls. That new debate will be in the afternoon, whereas the one for the top ten will be in the evening.
Fox News appears to have expanded its debates because the New Hampshire Union-Leader had said it was going to hold a debate for candidates who weren’t in the top ten but who were at 1%. See this story. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.
The New York Times has this letter from former Connecticut Republican Congressman Christopher Shays, in support of expanding who can be included in the general election presidential debates. Shays was in Congress for 22 years.
According to this story, the Idaho Constitution Party will have a presidential primary next year. The focus of the story is Rev. Scott A. Copeland, who is seeking the party’s presidential nomination and who is campaigning around the nation. He lives in Texas.